Knife guide for cutting pies



A ril 28, 1964 DONOVAN 3,130,764

KNIFE GUIDE FOR CUTTING PIES Filed Oct. 50, 1962 INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,130,764 KNEE GUIDE FGR CUTTIN G PIES Francis .1. Donovan, RED. 5, Turner, Maine Filed Oct. 30, 1962, Ser. No. 234,051 6 Claims. (Cl. 146-150) The present invention relates to a cutting guide. More particularly, the invention relates to a cutting guide for guiding a cutting instrument in cutting a circular object.

The cutting guide of the present invention permits the cutting of circular objects such as, for example, pies, cakes, gelatin molds, and the like, into uniform circle sector sections or Wedges. When the cutting of a pie or the like into wedges or servings is done by the estimate of the cutter without the use of a guide, the last piece of pie is more often than not larger or smaller than a piece of uniform or desired size. This represents a loss to anyone Who sells the pieces of pie in the normal course of business, since the non-uniform last piece of pie or the like is unsalable. Presently utilized guide devices for cutting pies, cakes, or the like are complicated in structure and often difiicult to use, especially when the user is in haste, such as is the usual condition of a busy waitress or other employee of a restaurant or food shop or the like.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved cutting guide for guiding a cutting instrument in cutting a circular object.

An object of the present invention is to provide a cutting guide for guiding a cutting instrument in cutting a circular object which guide is of simple but effective structure.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cutting guide for guiding a cutting instrument in cutting a circular object which guide is very easy to use.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cutting guide for guiding a cutting instrument in cutting a circular object which guide is very easily used to provide uniform sector circle sections of the circular object.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cutting guide for guiding a cutting instrument in cutting a circular object which guide is very easily used to provide a desired number of uniform sector circle sections of the circular object.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a cutting guide for guiding a cutting instrument in cutting a circular object which guide is of sturdy construction.

In order that the present invention may be readily carried into effect, it will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top view of an embodiment of the cutting guide of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 taken along the lines Il-H of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 1, taken along the lines IIIIII of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a portion of the embodiment of FIG. 1, taken along the lines IV-IV of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 in operative position on a circular object; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

In the figures, the same components are identified by the same reference numerals.

In the figures, a template 11 preferably comprises a plastic material of substantially rigid type. The template 11 is of circle sector configuration and has an outer apex 12 and an outer peripheral portion 13 of curvilinear configuration spaced from the outer apex 12. The template 11 also has a first radially extending outer side portion 3,130,764 Patented Apr. 28, 1964 14 extending from the outer apex 12 to a first end 15 of the outer peripheral portion 13, and a second radially extending outer side portion 16 extending from the outer apex 12 to the second end 17 of the outer peripheral portion 13.

An opening 18 of substantially circle sector configuration is formed through the template 11. The opening 18 has an inner apex 19 which is substantially coincident with the outer apex 12 and forms in the template 11 an inner peripheral portion 21 of curvilinear configuration which is spaced from the inner apex 19 and from the outer peripheral portion 13 and is concentric with said outer peripheral portion. The opening 18 also forms in the template 11 a first radially extending inner side portion 22 extending from a first point 23 adjacent the inner apex 19 to a first end 24 of the inner peripheral portion 21, and a second radially extending inner side portion 25 extending from a second point 26 adjacent the inner apex 19 to the second end of the inner peripheral portion 21.

The points 23 and 26 are spaced from the apices 12, 19 so that a segment 28 of the template remains in the apex area to reinforce said template. The template 11 comprises substantially three strips 29, 31 and 32, formed by the inner and outer side portions 22 and 14, 25 and 16, and the inner and outer peripheral portions 21 and 13, respectively.

The template 11 may comprise an integral plate of material or may comprise the strips 29, 31 and 32 joined together to form a circle sector. A handle 33 may be integrally formed with the template 11 or may be joined thereto at the center area of the peripheral portion strip 32. The handle makes it easier to use the cutting guide without disrupting the circular object being cut.

A first radial leg 34 extends substantially perpendicularly from the first side portion strip 29 substantially along the first side portion 14. A second radial leg 35 extends substantially perpendicularly from the second side portion strip 31 substantially along the second side portion 16. A first peripheral leg 36 extends substantially perpendicularly from the peripheral portion strip 32 in the area of the first end 24 of the inner peripheral portion 21. A second peripheral leg 37 extends substantially perpendicularly from the peripheral portion strip 32 in the area of the second end 27 of the inner peripheral portion 21. The peripheral legs 36 and 37 extend a farther distance from the template 11 than do the radial legs 34 and 35.

In use, the template 11 is positioned on a circular object, as shown in FIG. 5, with the inner and outer apices 19 and 12 thereof at substantially the center of the circular object, and with the outer peripheral portion 13 thereof in proximity with a portion of the periphery of the circular object. The peripheral legs 36 and 37 rest on the surface on which the circular object rests and preferably about a portion of the periphery of such object, when the template 11 is in its use position. The user need merely position the template 11 as indicated and then use selected side portions to guide a cutting instrument, such as, for example, a knife, to cut the circular object.

If it is desired, for example, to cut a pie into eight equal and uniform portions, a cutting guide of the present invention is used which has an angle A of 45 degrees between the outer side portions 14 and 16 (FIG. 5). The user need merely position the cutting guide of the present invention with its apices and peripheral portion coincident with the center of the pie and ajacent of the periphery portion of the pie. The radial legs 34 and 35 then rest on the pie and the peripheral legs rest on the surface supporting the pie and about the periphery of the pie. The user need then merely cut the pie by passing the knife along the side portions 14 and 16 from the apices 12, 19 to the periphery of the pie. The user then has cut a perfect one eight portion of the pie. The rest of the pie may then be cut into perfect one eighth portions by positioning the cutting guide of the present invention in the manner described, each time with one of the outer side portions 14 and 16 aligned with a radial edge of the previously cut or removed portion of pie.

A single cutting guide of the present invention may be used to obtain either eight, nine or ten equal portions of a cricular object, such as, for example, pie, cake or gelatin mold. To accomplish this, the outer side portions 14 and 16 of the template 11 are made with an angle A of 45 degrees between them, the first and second side portion strips 29 and 31 are made with a width such that the angle B between the second outer side portion 16 and the first inner side portion 22 is 40 degrees, as is the angle C between the first outer side portion 14 and the second inner side portion 25, and the angle D between the inner side portions 22 and 25 is 36 degrees.

The user may position the cutting guide of the present invention on, for example, a pie, in the aforedescribed manner and guide the knife or cutting instrument along the outer side portions 14 and 16 and move the cutting guide as described to obtain eight equal and uniform portions of pie, or the user may guide the knife or cutting instrument along the inner side portion 22 and the outer side portion 16 and move the cutting guide so that one of these side portions is aligned each time with a radial edge of the previously removed or cut portion of pie to obtain nine equal and uniform portions of pie. The user may guide the knife or cutting instrument along the inner side portion 25 and the outer side portion 14 and move the cuttingguide so that one of these side portions is aligned each time with a radial edge of the previously cut portion of pie to obtain nine equal and uniform portions of pie. The user may guide the knife or cutting instrument along the inner side portions 22 and 25 and move the cutting guide so that one of the inner side portions is aligned each time with a radial edge of the previously cut portion of pie to obtain ten equal and uniform portions of pie.

The cutting guide of the present invention may be made with any suitable angles A, B, C and D to provide any desired number of equal and uniform pieces, slices, Wedges, or portions of pie, cake or the like. If it is desired to cut a specific number of equal and uniform portions of a circular object, the radially extending side portions of the template 11 used to guide the cutting instrument must be at an angle to each other of 360 divided by the number of portions to be cut. Thus, if six uniform and equal portions are to be cut from a circular object, the set of radially extending side portions of the template 11 used to guide the cutting instrument must be at an angle to each other of 360 divided by 6 or 60 degrees. If seven equal portions are desired, the angle between the guide side portions must be 360 divided by 7, or 51.4 degrees and if 12 equal portions are desired, the angle must be 360 divided by 12 or 30 degrees, and so on.

While the invention has been described by means of specific examples and in a specific embodiment, I do not wish to be limited thereto, for obvious modifications will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A cutting guide for guiding a cutting instrument in cutting a circular object comprising a template of circle sector configuration having an outer apex, an outer peripheral portion of curvilinear configuration spaced from said outer apex, radially extending outer side portions extending from said outer apex to the ends of said outer pheripheral portion, and an opening of substantially circle sector configuration formed through said template having an inner apex substantially coincident with said outer apex and forming in said template an inner peripheral portion of curvilinear configuration spaced from said inner apex ,4 and from said outer peripheral portion and concentric with said outer peripheral portion, and radially extending inner side portions spaced from said outer side portions and extending from points adjacnt said inner apex to the ends of said inner peripheral portion, said template being adapted to be positioned on a circular object with the outer apex thereof at substantially the center of said circular object and the outer peripheral portion thereof in proximity with a portion of the periphery of said circular object in a manner whereby the inner and outer side portions of said template guide an instrument cutting said circular object, and a first radial leg extending transversely to said template substantially along one of said outer side portions of said template, and a second radial leg extending transversely to said template substantially along the other of said outer side portions of said template, said radial legs being adapted to rest on said circular object when said template is positioned thereon, said outer side portions of said template being at an angle of 360 divided by the number of equal portions of the circular object to be cut.

2. A cutting guide for guiding a cutting instrument in cutting a circular object into a number of equal portions, comprising a template of circle sector configuration having an outer apex, an outer peripheral portion of curvilinear configuration spaced from said outer apex, radially extending outer side portions extending from said outer apex to the ends of said outer peripheral portion, and an opening of substantially circle sector configuration formed through said template having an inner apex substantially coincident with said outer apex and forming in said template an inner peripheral portion of curvilinear configuration spaced from said inner apex and from said outer peripheral portion and concentric with said outer peripheral portion, and radially extending from points adjacent said inner apex to the ends of said inner peripheral portion, said template being adapted to be positioned on a circular object with the outer apex thereof at substantially the center of said circular object and the outer peripheral portion thereof in proximity with a portion of the periphery of said circular object in a manner whereby the inner and outer side portions of said template guide an instrument cutting said circular object, a first radial leg extending transversely to said template substantially along one of said outer side portions of said template, and a second radial leg extending transversely to said template substantially along the other of said outer side portions of said template, said radial legs being adapted to rest on said circular object when said template is positioned thereon, one of said inner side portions of said template being at an angle of 360 divided by the number of equal portions of the object to be cut with one of said outer side portions of said template.

3. A cutting guide for guiding a cutting instrument in cutting a circular object into a number of equal portions, comprising a template of circle sector configuration having an outer apex, an outer peripheral portion of curvilinear configuration spaced from said outer apex, radially extending outer side portions extending from said outer apex to the ends of said outer peripheral portion, and an opening of substantially circle sector configuration formed through said template having an inner apex substantially coincident with said outer apex and forming in said template an inner peripheral portion of curvilinear configuration spaced from said inner apex and from said outer peripheral portion and concentric with said outer peripheral portion, and radially extending inner side portions spaced from said outer side portions and extending from points adjacent said inner apex to the ends of said inner peripheral portion, said template being adapted to be positioned on a circular object with the outer apex thereof at substantially the center of said circular object and the outer peripheral portion thereof in proximity with a portion of the periphery of said circular object in a manner whereby the inner and outer side portions of said template guide an instrument cutting said circuiar object, a first radial leg extending transversely to said template substantially along one of said outer side portions of said template, and a second radial leg extending transversely to said template substantially along the other of said outer side portions of said template, said radial legs being adapted to rest on said circular object when said template is positioned thereon, said outer side portions of said template being at a first angle of 360 divided by a number of equal portions of the object to be cut, said inner side portions of said template being at a second angle of 360 divided by a different number of equal portions of the object to be cut, and one of said inner side portions of said template being at a third angle of 360 divided by another different number of equal portions of the object to be cut with one of said outer side portions of said template.

4. A cutting guide for guiding a cutting instrument in cutting a circular object comprising a template of circle sector configuration having an outer apex, an outer peripheral portion of curvilinear configuration spaced from said outer apex, radially extending outer side portions extending from said outer apex to the ends of said outer peripheral portion, and an opening of substantially circle sector configuration formed through said template having an inner apex substantially coincident with said outer apex and forming in said template an inner peripheral portion of curvilinear configuration spaced from said inner apex and from said outer peripheral portion and concentric with said outer peripheral portion, and radially extending inner side portions spaced from said outer side portions and extending from points adjacent said inner apex to the ends of said inner peripheral portion, said template being adapted to be positioned on a circular object with the outer apex thereof at substantially the center of said circular object and the outer peripheral portion thereof in proximity with a portion of the periphery of said circular object in a manner whereby the inner and outer side portions of said template guide an instrument cutting said circular object; a first radial leg extending transversely to said template substantially along one of said outer side portions of said template; and a second radial leg extend ing transversely to said template substantially along the other of said outer side portions of said template, said radial legs being adapted to rest on said circular object when said template is positioned thereon.

5. A cutting guide for guiding a cutting instrument in cutting a circular object comprising a template of circle sector configuration having an apex, a peripheral portion of curvilinear configuration spaced from said apex, and radially extending side portions extending from said apex to the ends of said peripheral portion, said template being adapted to be positioned on a circular object with the apex thereof at substantially the center of said circular object and the peripheral portion thereof in proximity with a portion of the periphery of said circular object in a manner whereby the side portions of said template guide an instrument cutting said circular object; a first peripheral leg extending transversely to said template in the area of one end of said peripheral portion thereof; and a second peripheral leg extending substantially transversely to said template in the area of the other end of said peripheral portion thereof, said peripheral legs being adapted to abut a portion of the periphery of said c rcular object when said template is positioned thereon.

6. A cutting guide for guiding a cutting instrument in cutting a circular object comprising a template of circle sector configuration having an outer apex, an outer periphral portion of curvilinear configuration spaced from said outer apex, radially extending outer side portions extending from said outer apex to the ends of said outer peripheral portion, and an opening of substantially circle sector configuration formed through said template having an inner apex substantially coincident with said outer apex and forming in said template an inner peripheral portion of curvilinear configuration spaced from said inner apex and from said outer peripheral portion and concentric with said outer peripheral portion, and radially extending inner side portions spaced from said outer side portions and extending from points adjacent said inner apex to the ends of said inner peripheral portion, said template being adapted to be positioned on a circular object with the outer apex thereof at substantially the center of said circular object and the outer peripheral portion thereof in proximity with a portion of the periphery of said circular object in a manner whereby the inner and outer side portions of said template guide an instrument cutting said circular object; a first radial leg extending transversely to said template substantially along one of said outer side portions of said template; a second radial leg extending transversely to said template substantially along the other of said outer side portions of said template, said radial legs being adapted to rest on said circular object when said template is positioned thereon; a first peripheral leg extending substantially transversely to said template in the area of one end of said inner peripheral portion thereof; and a second peripheral leg extending substantially transversely to said template in the area of the other end of said inner peripheral portion thereof, said peripheral legs being adapted to abut a portion of the periphery of said circular object when said template is positioned thereon, said first and second peripheral legs extending farther from said template in a transverse direction than said first and second radial legs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 583,695 Stalons et al. June 1, 1897 1,096,511 Lightle May 12, 1914 1,467,395 Ross et al Sept. 11, 1923 2,487,234 Gore Nov. 8, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS 437,875 Germany Nov. 27, 1926 

1. A CUTTING GUIDE FOR GUIDING A CUTTING INSTRUMENT IN CUTTING A CIRCULAR OBJECT COMPRISING A TEMPLATE OF CIRCLE SECTOR CONFIGURATION HAVING AN OUTER APEX, AN OUTER PERIPHERAL PORTION OF CURVILINEAR CONFIGURATION SPACED FROM SAID OUTER APEX, RADIALLY EXTENDING OUTER SIDE PORTIONS EXTENDING FROM SAID OUTER APEX TO THE ENDS OF SAID OUTER PHERIPHERAL PORTION, AND AN OPENING OF SUBSTANTIALLY CIRCLE SECTOR CONFIGURATION FORMED THROUGH SAID TEMPLATE HAVING AN INNER APEX SUBSTANTIALLY COINCIDENT WITH SAID OUTER APEX AND FORMING IN SAID TEMPLATE AN INNER PERIPHERAL PORTION OF CURVILINEAR CONFIGURATION SPACED FROM SAID INNER APEX AND FROM SAID OUTER PERIPHERAL PORTION AND CONCENTRIC WITH SAID OUTER PERIPHERAL PORTION, AND RADIALLY EXTENDING INNER SIDE PORTIONS SPACED FROM SAID OUTER SIDE PORTIONS AND EXTENDING FROM POINTS ADJACENT SAID INNER APEX TO THE ENDS OF SAID INNER PERIPHERAL PORTION, SAID TEMPLATE BEING ADAPTED TO BE POSITIONED ON A CIRCULAR OBJECT WITH THE OUTER APEX THEREOF AT SUBSTANTIALLY THE CENTER OF SAID CIRCULAR OBJECT AND THE OUTER PERIPHERAL PORTION THEREOF IN PROXIMITY WITH A PORTION OF THE PERIPHERY OF SAID CIRCULAR 